Chapter Forty

Charlie

The next morning I was woken by Annie with toast and coffee,

"I hope you slept well Charlie"

"Best nights sleep I've had in a very long time. Thanks"

I sat up sipping the scalding coffee and looked around,

"Where's our friend? I didn't hear him go"

"Oh, he had a few things to do Charlie and as its been snowing all night we wont be going back today. I'm sorry to keep you here but it will give you a chance to see the park in all its glory. Do you ski or snowshoe? Perhaps you would like to try some ice fishing."

"Now you're talking, I've seen it on TV but never tried it myself"

"Then once you are ready come through to the kitchen and I will introduce you to my friend Luke, he loves fishing."

The thought of another day here didn't worry me at all, there was little I could do until I spoke to Johnny H and it didn't seem likely I was going to meet him today so I may as well make the most of it.

Old Quil

We had been waiting for a visit from Johnny H for some time now, in equal parts hopeful and worried. He had promised us a face to face and ordered that we do nothing until then but Sam and Leah were impatient and it was impossible to rein them in fully. They had left Seth and the other new wolf Adam to keep watch over the tribe while they went looking for the Cullens. We knew they had moved away but using the network of other tribes Sam tracked them down and he and Leah were watching although they had orders not to do anything, just observe. Bella Swan was with the Cullens as was the leech who had saved her in the cave and I knew Sam was itching to kill both of them but the repercussions could be devastating for the tribe if he did so.

Harry saddened me most of all, I had expected him to understand the need to rid the area of the Cullens. After all they came and went with impunity turning up when least expected or wanted and all because of the treaty signed by our ancestors who had been too weak and blind to see the consequences for our young people. I had spoken to Harry when Sam brought him back from town with the news he had been meeting up with Chief Swan.

"What did you tell him Harry?"

"Nothing. I was thanking him for freeing my daughter."

"He freed her because he had no choice, what else would he do? Kill her?"

"He could have kept her prisoner or handed her to the Cullens but he didn't".

"Only because he knew if he did we would force him out of Forks, make him a fugitive from the guardians. He wanted his dead daughter to find a place among the monsters who had turned her to one. Don't feel sorry for the Chief Harry, he doesn't deserve your pity. It should be reserved for our fallen warriors."

"Warriors? Ambushing an innocent girl and trapping her with a leech then attacking her when she escaped, these are not the actions of warriors but cowards and bullies. They make me ashamed to be a Quileute elder."

"Then resign your position, Sue will gladly take your place, she understands what we did and why. In the meantime you will be held under house arrest. We do not need problems with the leeches or Johnny H."

When we finally heard that our leader was flying down to speak with us in person I felt only pride. We could explain exactly how we saw the actions of our pack and the leeches and he would understand and applaud us. There were a few facts that would need a little work but with no one to contradict us it shouldn't prove too difficult. Sue would take Harry's place on the council of elders, Harry being too sick to continue in his position. I offered to send Sue to pick him up from the airport but he preferred to drive himself, he didn't have long, only a day before he had to leave on more business which was also in our favour, there wouldn't be time to do any snooping. I didn't like the fact we would be forced to lie to our leader but the Cullens could not be allowed to come and go as they pleased so it was a necessary evil.

The women of the village cooked a meal for his arrival while Billy, myself, and Sue readied ourselves for Johnny's questions. Sam was due back any minute, he had to be here for this meeting as pack Alpha but Leah refused to return choosing to continue watching the Cullens. I was relieved when Sam arrived first, we had spoken for a long time on the phone but face to face was better and we made sure the story was clear in everyone's mind. I was the only one of the elders who had ever seen our leader in the flesh, I had visited Denali in my youth with my own father for a council of guardians and caught a glimpse of him as he entered the meeting hall. He hadn't looked much, too young, too innocent and unworldly to be a leader of guardian packs but my father said he was the wisest man he knew.

"He's lived through much Quil, he knows our people, he knows our enemies, and he has the wisdom of a man much older than he appears. When a guardian phases time halts for them, they cease to age. That happened with the first guardians many centuries ago and Johnny H was the first. He phases many times a year and so he never ages. Behind that youthful face is the wisdom and learning of all those centuries.

When he arrived parking up before my cabin I saw he had with him two other men, both seemingly older but guardians none the less. We welcomed them in to my house and sat to eat before the meeting started. Johnny spoke little but listened as the other two made conversation with Sue and Billy. I spent my time trying to figure out just how much he knew and if he was leaning favourably in our direction but he had a gamblers face that gave nothing away, his eyes switching from one to another of us but settling most often on Sam who was becoming uncomfortable with the singular interest.

After the meal we retired outside to sit around the bonfire lit in his honour, the rest of the tribe watching from some way off where a smaller fire also lit the evening sky.

"So, I am here as requested. Perhaps you could tell me how this all started Quil Ateara."

I was ready for this and explained how the Cullens encouraged other vampires, nomads into the area threatening our safety. How seeing one such nomad taking more than a slight interest in Chief Swans daughter we had begun to follow them hoping to prevent any harm coming to her. How when he faked a crash and kidnapped her, taking her to an old cave where he intended to drain her the pack had assembled and tried to flush him out. How managing to do so some of our number were killed when friends of his arrived but how Bella has panicked running off into the forest pursued by the Cullens who Bella's father had called in to help him find his daughter, How the other wolves except for Sam who was injured and Leah who was captured were slaughtered and the girl bitten by one of the Cullens. Something that was blamed on one of the wolves.

"The Cullens said they were forced to change Bella Swan because she was bleeding to death from a wolf bite but they lied, there was no wolf bite. Our pack were already laying cold in death."